Seoul's new Centre Pompidou Hanwha museum will open to the public on June 4, 2025, marking the Pompidou's second Asian branch after its collaboration with Shanghai's West Bund Museum. The four-year partnership between the Hanwha Foundation of Culture and the Centre Pompidou will feature two exhibitions per year from the Pompidou collection, starting with "The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision." The museum occupies 11,000 square meters over four floors of Hanwha Group's 63 Building, with one gallery dedicated to early 20th-century European art and another to global contemporary art with a Korean focus, curated in-house. The inaugural Korea Focus section includes local artists such as Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk.
This opening matters because it represents a major cultural exchange between France and South Korea, coinciding with the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations. However, the project has sparked controversy: reports suggest Hanwha is paying around $21 million over four years, drawing criticism that the foundation is prioritizing European loans over supporting Korean talent. Cultural policy specialist Chung Joonmo warns of a risk of "cultural dependency," where the Korean art scene becomes a passive conduit for Western masterpieces. Additionally, Hanwha Group's ties to Israeli and American militaries have attracted global criticism, and the precedent may prompt other Korean corporations to seek similar foreign museum partnerships.